Improving the participation of Women
in the Labour Market: Coventry
and Warwickshire
Executive Summary
Jenny Bimrose, Anne Green, Sally-Anne Barnes and Michael Orton
Institute for Employment Research
University of Warwick
Coventry, CV4 7AL
Tel: 024 76 523977
Fax: 024 76 524241
Email: Michael.Orton@warwick.ac.uk
7th March, 2003
RESEARCH REPORT - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OVERVIEW AND KEY MESSAGES
After three decades of equal opportunities legislation and policy,
the participation of women in the labour market remains different
and unequal from that of men (Bimrose et al., 2003).1
The Learning and Skills Council, Coventry and Warwickshire, with funding from the
European Social Fund, commissioned the Warwick University Institute for
Employment Research to undertake research on improving the participation of
women in the sub-regional labour market. The research project has produced:
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a targeted review and analysis of research on gender discrimination in
employment at a national (UK), regional (West Midlands) and sub-regional
(Coventry and Warwickshire) level;
a review of the dissemination of gender and employment related research
relevant to the sub-region (presented in a separate report);
an Action Plan (presented in a separate report).
This document is an Executive Summary of the main research report, namely the
targeted review and analysis of research into gender discrimination in employment.
This Executive Summary outlines the content of the report and identifies the main
research findings, which are underpinned by the following key points:
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women’s participation rates in the labour market are increasing;
women do not constitute a homogeneous group: they have diverse labour
market experiences; and
women are slightly outperforming men in compulsory and post-compulsory
education in the majority of subjects.
However:
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women dominate in part-time work, which tends to be low paid, has few
promotional prospects and has limited training opportunities;
the gender pay gap is persistent and even widening;
gender segregation means women are under-represented in many occupational
sectors, including manufacturing and construction – important to the sub-region;
sexual harassment in the workplace is a strong and recurrent theme in women’s
employment, but is often regarded as not being a significant problem.
educational subject choices are still influenced by gender stereotypes and there
is significant gender segregation in government training schemes;
a key issue is women’s caring responsibilities, but employers in the sub-region
appear to have limited awareness of Work-Life Balance policies;
there are structural explanations of gender inequality in employment but
women’s participation in the labour market may also be affected by their choices
about paid employment and caring responsibilities;
women’s employment experience is also affected by dimensions of ethnicity,
disability and age.
The research report contains 12 sections, as follows.
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Bimrose, J. et al. (2003) Improving the Participation of Women in the Labour Market:
Coventry and Warwickshire. Coventry: Warwick Institute for Employment Research.
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1. INTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH REPORT
Section 1 of the report sets out in detail the background to the research (section 1.1),
the scope of the project (section 1.2) and the data sources examined. These include
the Labour Force Survey, Regional and Local Employers’ Surveys, the West
Midlands Household Survey, Social Trends, the Census of Population and national
and international academic studies (section 1.3).
2. EMPLOYMENT IN THE REGION: SETTING THE CONTEXT
Section 2 sets the overall context of the research project by focusing upon
employment trends in the West Midlands region (section 2.1), the Coventry and
Warwickshire sub-region (2.2) and workplace equal opportunities policies in the subregion (section 2.3). Key findings are:
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Employment rates for women are increasing, whereas for men they are
decreasing
The economic activity rates of the population of working age for both men and
women in the West Midlands are similar to the UK rates and have remained
relatively stable from 1996 to 2001
Women are, on average, five times more likely to be in part-time employment
than men
Reflecting the ageing of the population and the rise in female participation rates,
the potential supply of labour in Coventry and Warwickshire increasingly tends to
be female and from the 50 plus age group
In Coventry and Warwickshire, a markedly higher than the national average
percentage of men are employed in production and this industrial sector employs
the lowest average percentage of women
In Coventry and Warwickshire, women are concentrated in small and medium
sized organisations
In Coventry and Warwickshire, 42 per cent of employers have a written equal
opportunities policy.
3. WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN THE LABOUR MARKET
Section 3 examines trends in women’s participation in the labour market at national
level (sections 3.1 and 3.2), regional level (section 3.3) and sub-regional level
(sections 3.4 to 3.6). Explanations of trends are discussed (section 3.7). It is
demonstrated that:
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Women’s participation in the labour market is increasing at a faster rate than that
of men
Women dominate in part-time work that is low paid, has few promotional
prospects and has limited training opportunities
In Coventry and Warwickshire the percentage of women in full-time and part-time
employment is 49 per cent and 51 per cent respectively
At national, regional and local levels women are less likely to be unemployed
than men
The presence and age of a dependant child continues to have a marked effect on
the employment rates of women
A new trend is the fact that there are larger numbers of women, particularly among
the highly educated, who are postponing childbearing
This is coupled with the trend among successive cohorts of women to take shorter
periods out of work for childbearing and child rearing.
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4. GENDER SEGREGATION
Section 4 focuses upon gender segregation in the labour market. It begins by
defining segregation (section 4.1), examining trends (section 4.2) and considering
segregation in relation to part-time work (section 4.3). Explanations of gender
segregation are reviewed (section 4.4) and the extent of segregation in three sectors
(construction, engineering and social care) is highlighted along with some initiatives
introduced to combat gender stereotyping (section 4.5). Key findings are:
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Gender segregation is a recognised structural feature of the UK labour market
This segregation impacts on the occupational opportunities and earnings of
women and represents differences in the status and pay of men and women
These divisions can be seen as intrinsically linked to the sexual division of labour
One key explanation proposes that women are satisfied with or prefer jobs which
fit with their childcare and domestic arrangements (Human capital theory)
One other key explanation claims that gender segregation is an intrinsic part of
organisational culture which constrains women’s choices (Social process theory)
Marked patterns of gender segregation across different occupational groupings
(e.g. engineering is male dominated and hairdressing is female dominated) are
reflected at a national, regional and sub-regional level
The number of women registered with the Engineering Council has dramatically
increased since 1984, but still only 6 per cent of engineers and technologists are
women
In 2002 only nine women were recruited in the West Midlands to the Modern
Apprenticeship scheme in construction
In sectors where women dominate (e.g. social care) there can still be vertical
segregation whereby women are under-represented at senior levels
Suggestions for addressing gender segregation in the labour market include the
introduction of flexible working practices, on-the-job training for female part-time
employees and the adoption of equal opportunities practices.
5. EMPLOYMENT PATTERNS AND COMMITMENT
Section 5 presents research evidence regarding women’s commitment to
employment. This includes a definition (section 5.1) and explanation of commitment
(section 5.2) and an examination of employment commitment in terms of individual
preference (section 5.3) and as a reflection of life-stage (section 5.4). Specific
attention is given to evidence relevant to the region (section 5.4). Key findings are:
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It is important to avoid regarding women as an homogeneous group
Definitions of commitment based on working long hours and sacrificing personal
life for work are biased in favour of men because they ignore women’s caring and
domestic labour
Women’s commitment to employment has been viewed first in terms of individual
preferences and secondly as a reflection of life stages:
ƒ the individual preference approach defines two distinct groups within the
labour market: ‘career orientated women’ and ‘domestically orientated
women’
ƒ women’s attitudes to employment can be argued to be a reflection of their lifestages: such as pre-marriage, family formation and the final phase of working
life
These theories suggest different policy responses for different groups of women.
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6. GENDER PAY DIFFERENTIALS
Section 6 reviews current evidence of the pay gap between women and men. It
begins with relevant legislation (section 6.1), evidence at the national level (section
6.2) and the issue of job evaluation (section 6.3). Regional evidence is then
considered (section 6.4). Findings include:
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At national level there is a very large quantity of data showing the persistence of
the gender pay gap
Despite the fact that women’s earnings have increased over the last two decades
women continue to earn less than men and the most recent data show the pay
gap growing
Full-time employed women’s hourly rates and weekly gross pay are significantly
less than those of men working full-time
Women working part-time also earn significantly less than men working part-time
Women are less likely than men to receive other elements that constitute
‘earnings’, such as bonuses, pension schemes and medical insurance
There are significant pay differentials between men and women working in the
evening or at night - men are generally compensated for working unsociable
hours but women are in most instances not
The gender pay differential is slightly higher at regional than national level
There are significant differences in earnings amongst women e.g. a woman
graduate without children is estimated to earn twice as much over her lifetime as
a woman with no qualifications and no children
The amount of earnings forgone by mothers varies by number of children and the
skill level of the woman
Factors affecting the gender pay gap include:
ƒ discrimination
ƒ occupational segregation
ƒ women’s predominance in part-time work
ƒ the unequal impact of women’s caring responsibilities.
7. FLEXIBLE WORKING PRACTICES
The focus of section 7 is on flexible working practices. The starting point is the UK
context (section 7.1), definitions (section 7.2) and employers’ interest in flexible
working (section 7.3). Levels of flexible working are reviewed (section 7.4) along with
organisational steps towards flexible working (section 7.5), problems of
implementation (section 7.6) and employers’ perceptions of the business case for
flexible working (section 7.7). The section concludes by considering actual costs and
benefits (section 7.8), overcoming obstacles (section 7.9) and examples of good
practice (section 7.10). Key findings include:
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Flexible working practices have been implemented in some instances as an
attempt by employers to address skill shortages
Flexible working practices are particularly prevalent in larger organisations, in
public sector organisations, in firms which have strong equal opportunities
policies and in organisations that have large proportions of female employees
The implementation of flexible working practices can be viewed as problematic
because:
ƒ employers may not understand the business case
ƒ traditional forms of working may be embedded in the organisational culture
ƒ the implementation of such practices may be constrained by the
organisational structure
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Research has shown that the introduction of flexible working practices is not
costly and the benefits (e.g. significant improvements in productivity, reduced
absenteeism and increased retention) are often greater than expected
There are many examples of good practice but there is evidence that employers
in Coventry and Warwickshire have limited awareness of Work-Life Balance
issues.
8. RECRUITMENT, TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
This section begins with a general introduction (section 8.1) and a discussion of
recruitment in relation to gender (section 8.2). Consideration is then given to the
spectrum of training and professional development (section 8.3), policy approaches
(section 8.4), performance and experience (section 8.5) and regional trends (section
8.6). Findings include:
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Gender discrimination in recruitment is illegal, but still exists
Practices such as word of mouth recruitment reflect and reinforce gender
segregation in the labour market
Although women have increased their levels of education and training, there are
notable differences in the training of men and women, with men still receiving
more training than women
There are significant differences in the training received by women working fulltime and part-time
Women educated to degree level are more likely to receive training than those
with fewer qualifications
In educational settings women and men are now performing equally in most
subject areas, but there are significant gender differences in the subject areas
studied by men and women:
ƒ with the exception of biological sciences where women dominate, men
dominate science subjects
ƒ women are over-represented in education and humanities, and men are overrepresented in engineering and technology
ƒ at degree level, the subjects studied by men and women are similar to those
chosen at A/AS
Modern Apprenticeship schemes evidence prominent gender segregation
At a regional level, women undertake more training related to their personal
development than men, whereas men participate in more taught training courses
related to their current or previous employment than women
Consequently, women are more likely to undertake training within a college and
pay for it themselves, whereas men are more likely to undertake training at work,
which is funded by their employer
Significantly more women than men are unable to participate in education and
training courses because of their caring responsibilities.
9. SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE
Section 9 reviews national and international research evidence on sexual
harassment in the workplace as one barrier to women’s equal participation in the
labour market. The review begins with defining sexual harassment (section 9.1), the
national context (section 9.2), legislation (section 9.3) and identifying harassment
(section 9.4). Frequency (section 9.5), consequences (section 9.6) and explanations
(section 9.7) are then examined.
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It is estimated that 50 per cent of women experience harassment during their
working lives
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Sexual harassment is rarely accepted as a significant problem
Young women who have been employed for less than a year, or who are in a low
paid job, are most likely to suffer sexual harassment
Sexual harassment has a negative impact even if the frequency of the behaviour
is low
The two dominant responses to sexual harassment are denial and ignoring the
event.
ETHNICITY, DISABILITY AND AGE
Sections 10, 11 and 12 of the report consider women’s participation in the labour
market in terms of the interaction with dimensions of ethnicity, disability and age
respectively. Key points are:
Ethnicity
• The position of women from ethnic minority groups in the labour market is
markedly different and unequal to that of men
• Some ethnic groups display distinctive patterns of segregation by occupation and
industry – for example, the concentration of Asian women in the distribution
sector
• Some Black women are strategically choosing careers such as nursing and social
work that are considered to be gendered because these jobs offer a greater
possibility of entry to courses, access to employment opportunities, qualification
and promotion
• Young Asian from Muslim groups have a low participation rate in employment,
education and training
• Pakistani and Bangladeshi women have a higher risk of being economically
inactive and are the most disadvantaged.
Disability
• One in five of the working age population in the West Midlands is disabled
• Disabled people are more likely to have no qualifications, face unemployment, to
work part-time and be under-represented in senior positions than the nondisabled
• There are significant differences in the economic activity rates of men and
women with disabilities
• 45 per cent of disabled women are in employment
• Disabled women in the region are twice as likely to be unemployed as nondisabled women
• Employed disabled people have lower average hourly earnings than the nondisabled and this pay gap is increasing
• Research has shown that there is too much emphasis on disabled people
changing to accommodate employers rather than employers changing to
accommodate disabled people.
Age
• Compared to the UK age structure, Coventry has a higher number of young
people, and Warwickshire has a higher number of people aged 35-64 years
• For both Coventry and Warwickshire there is a projected increase in the female
population aged 50-69 years over the medium-term
• For the female 20-24 year and 25-34 year age groups economic activity rates
and employment rates rise, and peak in the 35-49 year age group
• The economic activity and employment rates of the female 25-49 year age group
in the Coventry and Warwickshire LSC area are higher than those recorded
regionally or nationally
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In the 50-retirement age group economic activity rates and employment rates in
Coventry and Warwickshire are similar to the regional and national averages
Nationally, women's employment rates decline steeply after the age of 45 years
Educational attainment is a key factor in underlying variations amongst women
participating in the labour market within the same age group.
CONCLUSION
The research findings inform the development of an Action Plan for the Learning and
Skills Council, Coventry and Warwickshire. Further issues have been identified in
the review of the dissemination of gender and employment related research relevant
to the sub-region, which is presented in a separate report. The key findings to inform
the Action Plan are:
1) Significantly more women are in part-time employment than men, and women
dominate in part-time work that is low paid, has few promotional prospects and
has limited training opportunities.
2) Women are under-represented in manufacturing and construction. The gender
pay gap is persistent - particularly in industries dominated by men. Educational
subject choices are still influenced by gender stereotypes, and there is prominent
gender segregation in government training schemes, reflecting gender
stereotypes.
3) Local employers appear to have limited awareness of Work-Life Balance policies.
However, even where a policy exists, it does not necessarily ensure good
practice.
4) For women, a significant barrier to training is their caring responsibilities. Men
undertake more training and more hours of training than women.
5) White women are more likely to be working part-time compared to their ethnic
minority counterparts. Young Asian women have low participation rates in
employment, education and training. Pakistani and Bangladeshi women have a
high risk of being economically inactive.
6) Disabled women are more likely to be unemployed and to work part-time, are
more likely to have less qualifications, and less likely to have qualifications higher
than NVQ level 4 and above.
7) Sexual harassment in the workplace is a strong theme in women’s employment
but is often not regarded as a significant problem; those affected are more likely
to be young women who have been employed for less than a year.
8) The older female working population is increasing in importance; given the
ageing of the population, a key challenge is to maintain higher economic activity
and employment rates in the older age groups
9) There is a need for specific (primary) research within the sub-region. There is a
need for effective sub-regional ‘signposting’ and dissemination of relevant
research and evaluation findings.
Evaluating the impact of work being
undertaken within the sub-region as to the impact on women’s participation in the
labour market is of great importance.
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